Paper napkin



P. H. HORWITT AND L. LA VECK.

PAPER NAPKIN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8.1921.

Patented Oct. 3, 1922.

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earner PAUL H. HORWITT MD LGUIS LA VECEK. UTA BRQQKLYN, NEW YORK.

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Application filed July a, 1921.

T 0 all 10 ham it may concern:

Be it known that we, PAUL H. Honwrrr and LOUIS LA Vnon, both citizens of the United States, and residents of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper Napkins, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to napkins and more particularly to that type thereof commonly known as paper napkins. The latter are generally made from more or less flimsy tissue paper of the class customarily referred to as crepe tissue, and in the majority of cases are arranged in stacks and presented for use in a folded condition and thus require not only to be removed from the stack but also to be unfolded before satisfactory use thereof may be had. Because of the flimsy physical construction and the peculiar surface characteristics which are desirable in such napkins, the latter not only tend to adhere to each other but the folds of individual napkins tend to cling together, so that it is not only difficult to remove individual napkins from a stack but considerable manipulation, requiring the use of both hands, is necessary before a napkin of the type in question can be unfolded. The particular object of the present invention is to overcome these objections by providing a paper napkin which is folded in a simple and novel manner so as to be readily removable from a stack and capable of being easily and quickly unfolded by a simple manipulation with one hand. Our invention will be fully described hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

ln the accompanying drawings which, for illustrative and descriptive purposes, show an example of our invention, F1 re '1 is a face view of the napkin in its un olded condition, with the fold lines indicated thereon, the scale of Fig. 1 being reduced with respect to the other figures; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the napkin folded in the novel ig. 2 showing an outer ply or fold of the napkin turned back; Fig. i is a diagram matic sectional view on the line c rl of Fig, 2, and Fig. 5 is a view illustrating the nap-- kin in the process of unfolding.

The napkin comprises the usual rectangu lar sheet 10 of flimsy tissue paper and pref wa%devised by us; Fig. 3 is a view similarv A -10 2.

Serial No. 483,351.

erably of that type of tissue paper which is commonly known as crepe tissue and which, because of its absorbent qualities and peculiar surface characteristics, is best adapted for the purpose. The sheet 10 is provided with-duplicate folds 11, 12, 13 and 14, which extend from the central point 15 of the napkin in directions approximately parallel with the side edges of the sheet, the folds 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 respectively forming continuous folds which intersect each other at the central point 15. In addition, the sheet 10 is provided with diagonal folds 16 and 17 which extend in opposite directions from the central point 15 diagonally across said sheet and in the opposite direction from the other folds with respect to the surface plane of the sheet 10; that is to say, if the folds 11, 12, 13 and 14: are designated as outward folds, then the folds 16 and 17 will constitute inward folds or vice versa. The described folds divide the sheet 10 into rectangular sections a and b and triangular sections 0, d, e and f.

In folding the napkin, the corners of the sheet 10 at which the diagonal folds 16 and 17 terminate are brought toward each other in a movement which may be described as causing said folds 16 and 17 tov pivot on the central point 15 and to be brought into proximity and substantial parallelism with each other. By this operation the triangular sections 0 and e and (Z and f are brought into surface relation to each other, and by completing the folding, are laid upon the rectangular section b and beneath the rectangular section a, all of said sections finally lying in surface engagement with each other, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; that is to say, the triangular sections constitute intermediate sections lying between the outer rectangular sections and project outwardly from the folds lfiand 17 in pairsin opposite directions toward the outer periphery of the folded napkin; the triangular sections 0 and e are connected with the rectangular sec tions or and 5 by the folds 141- and 11 respec tively, while the triangular sections ti and f are united with said rectangular sections a and b respectively by the folds 12 and 13. Thus, in the completely folded condition of the napliin the folds 11 and 14: lie adjacent to each other and the folds 12 and 13 are similarly positioned with respect to each i from the point 15 and constitute two sides of the periphery of the folded napkin, the

other two sides being formed by the adjacent free edges of the folded sections.

To unfold the napkin it is simply-necessary to lift the corner 9 of. the rectangular section a or the corresponding corner of the section b, if the latter happens to be uppermost, which causes all of the folds to pivot on the point 15 and open up in the manner indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 5, and thereby quickly and easily brings the napkin to a completely open and flat condition for use, with a single, simple manipulation requiring the use of only one hand and leaving the other free for use in other Ways.

If the napkin, folded as described, is part of a stack of similarly folded napkins, it is readily possible to separate or raise the indicated corner of the section a or b, as the case may be, without distrubing any part of the next successive napkin. his is due to the fact that the double. intermediate folds represented by the folded triangular sections positively separate the single rectangular fold a from the corresponding fold b, or vice versa, and thereby make separation or lifting of the corner referred to easy to accomplish. In such case, a continued lifting on the corner 9 not only brings the napkin to its unfolded condition, but concurrently removes it from a stack without requiring any particular care or the use of more than one hand to bring this about and to avoid disturbance of the stack of napkins. Removal of individual napkins from a stack is thus facilitated, the waste resulting from the removal of more than one napkin at a time or, in other words, more napkins than are required for individual use is entirely eliminated; at the same time, as many napkins as may legitimately be required for use are easily procurable from the stack, and unfolding thereof is reduced to the simplest operation. When the paper napkin is folded in the ordinary way 1t is vide the advantages set forth is readily accomplished and requires no special skill and in no sense complicates either the form or production of the napkins.

Various changes in the specific form shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A paper napkin folded along lines extending at right angles to each other to form outer plies of rectangular form and along lines extending diagonally to said first mentioned lines to form contiguous triangular double plies lying between said outer plies.

2. A folded tissue paper napkin having rectangular outer sections of sin le ply and intermediate triangular sections olded upon each other along adjacent lines extending diagonallyfrom a corner of said rectangular plies, said intermediate sections each consisting of two plies folded upon themselves and lying between said outer sections, the latter being foldably connected with said triangular.sections.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

- PAUL H. HORWITT.

LOUIS LA VECK. 

